Taking the plunge. My journey as an O/O.

snowwy · Feb 4, 2019

spyder7723 said: ↑

edited to just the the most important part of your post here

This is not a bad idea. In fact its a very good solid plan. The problem is with.b the rates you are agreeing to pull for you are not lowering risks, you are increasing them.

Normally i would suggest a person go to either mercer, landstar, Bennett, or daily. they are all basically equal when it comes to which is the better carrier to lease to. But in your situation with no knowledge of freight lanes/market dynamics mercer would be better simply because you can lean on your coordinator(basically a dispatcher) while you learn lanes and markets.
Click to expand...

DSV, admiral merchant

spyder7723 · Feb 4, 2019

snowwy said: ↑

DSV, admiral merchant
Click to expand...

Isnt dsv the company that bought sammons? They have they're own trucks and lease purchase trucks. I wouldnt lease to anyone that has company trucks nor lp trucks. I just don't have enough trust that when the market shows down that they wouldn't protrude them over the oo's.

Admiral merchant is good as long as you stay in their hot markets. But get out of them and you are basically on your own to find a load.

chimbotano · Feb 4, 2019

Scooter Jones said: ↑

Do you think Crete is lowering their rates just because he's willing to run 3600 miles a week at $1.30 per mile gross to the truck?

Heck no, man...

They're laughing all the way to the bank. These CEO's have to wake up and pinch themselves every morning with glee that some guy would be willing to assume ALL liability for a $1.30 a mile.
Click to expand...

What I meant is that big companies can closed deals with shippers for less money than you or me can. I’m not going to lower my rate because I have a business to take care of and I don’t want to make hard for other O/O s to run their business , however these big companies can play with their rates because they have “L/O “ that will do the job for dirt cheap .
That is the reason I’m an independent O/O . I drive , look for my loads and at this moment I refused to haul a load for les than $ 2.5 pm . I rather stay home .
Sorry for the miss understanding.

snowwy · Feb 4, 2019

spyder7723 said: ↑

Ight dsv the company that bought sammons? They have they're own trucks and lease purchase trucks. I wouldnt lease to anyone that has company trucks nor lp trucks. I just don't have enough trust that when the market shows down that they wouldn't protrude them over the oo's.

Admiral merchant is good as long as you stay in they're hot markets. But get out of them and you are basically on your own to find a load.
Click to expand...

They must have changed their operations around from when they were sammons

Farmerbob1 · Feb 4, 2019

spyder7723 said: ↑

Are you kidding me? Look man i understand this your first plunge as an oo and the safety net desire is strong but at those rates its a false safety net. Take the truck to a good company with real rates. Those rates are extremely low.

Averaging 1.80 a mile, all miles, calculated from the odometer, should be the absolute bare minimum goal of an owner operator leased to a company.

I'd like to touch on a few of the points you made in earlier posts. The goal of making as much as you did as a company driver by the end of the first year is fine. However you failed to include the costs of employee benefits things like group healthcare discounts, paid vacation, workmans comp, matching 401k. Those need to have a $ figure assigned to them and factored into the final income equation.

Also you mentioned the exit strategy. If not earning x by y date you foo back to being a company driver is a solid plan. But how do you get out from under the truck loan? That needs to be pay of the exit strategy.
Click to expand...

Worst case scenario, the truck payment is affordable, even if I have to go back to being a company employee. I wont like it, but I can afford it. 420 per week is a bit less than half my take home pay as a company driver.

With my credit rating, if I sell the truck for scrap after making a year of payments on it, I will be able to refinance it as a personal loan.

Farmerbob1 · Feb 4, 2019

spyder7723 said: ↑

edited to just the the most important part of your post here

This is not a bad idea. In fact its a very good solid plan. The problem is with.b the rates you are agreeing to pull for you are not lowering risks, you are increasing them.

Normally i would suggest a person go to either mercer, landstar, Bennett, or daily. they are all basically equal when it comes to which is the better carrier to lease to. But in your situation with no knowledge of freight lanes/market dynamics mercer would be better simply because you can lean on your coordinator(basically a dispatcher) while you learn lanes and markets.
Click to expand...

If I had a mortgage, dependents, or any significant debts other than the truck, I would be more cautious about how much learning will cost me.

I have none of those things. I can afford to be a bit more relaxed about my income as an o/o rather than obsessing about money.

That does not mean I expect it to be easy, just that if it goes bottoms-up, I am not going to be hurting others that depend on me.

If I am successful here, doing it this way, then when I move on up into the Billy Big Rig Magical Land of No Cheap Freight, i will be even more successful, right?

Farmerbob1 · Feb 4, 2019

chimbotano said: ↑

Now look at the big picture. YOU ARE HELPING THEM TO LOWER THE RATES !!!!!! Don’t you get it !!!! Can someone explain this guys , PLEASE !!!!!!!
Click to expand...

It is called supply and demand. I understand it. I do not have the desire to go tilting at windmills in order to challenge how Capitalism works.

I do, however, understand that a new business nearly always undercuts existing businesses to gain market share. I am satisfied with this for the short term. And yes, a year is short term in the life of a small business.

spyder7723 · Feb 4, 2019

I think you are missing the point some of us are trying to get across. There are options that won't have a steep learning curve that will pay you a lot more than the piddly cpm contract you have. The fact that you don't have a lot of personal eco l expenditures and dependents makes those option practically 0 additional risk than what you are doing now.

Cheezy_smile · Feb 4, 2019

I wish you all the best, but saying I don’t have a mortgage,kids,wife etc is poor excuse on how are you running your business. Pulling for 1.30 is an insult plain and simple. You’re basically running your wheels of and all that money u saved will be spent on that truck because u ran it so hard. It’s a vicious cirlce. And like @Scooter Jones says big shots are laughing all the way to the bank. This is why are some rates so low and why dry van market sucks

Opendeckin · Feb 4, 2019

Hell, I'll lease you on to me and guarantee 1.5 all miles and I'll pocket the rest. Even in this market down turn I'm at $2 all miles. If your going to insist on making somebody else rich make a little guy like me rich instead of some mega corporation.

Log in or Sign up

Forums

Find Trucking Jobs

Taking the plunge. My journey as an O/O.

snowwy Road Train Member

Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

Wait, employers can't reach you!

spyder7723 Road Train Member

chimbotano Heavy Load Member

snowwy Road Train Member

Farmerbob1 Road Train Member

Farmerbob1 Road Train Member

Farmerbob1 Road Train Member

spyder7723 Road Train Member

Cheezy_smile Medium Load Member

Opendeckin Medium Load Member

Trucking Jobs in 30 seconds

Wait, employers can't reach you!

Log in or Sign up

Useful Searches

Find Trucking Jobs

Taking the plunge. My journey as an O/O.

snowwy Road Train Member

Wait, employers can't reach you!

spyder7723 Road Train Member

chimbotano Heavy Load Member

snowwy Road Train Member

Farmerbob1 Road Train Member

Farmerbob1 Road Train Member

Farmerbob1 Road Train Member

spyder7723 Road Train Member

Cheezy_smile Medium Load Member

Opendeckin Medium Load Member

Wait, employers can't reach you!